Police have formed a special dedicated investigation team to probe allegations that the Unification Church provided political funds and bribes not only to the People Power Party but also to former and incumbent lawmakers of the Democratic Party of Korea.
The National Office of Investigation (NOI) of the Korean National Police Agency said on the 10th that it has organized a special dedicated investigation team within the Serious Crimes Investigation Division and immediately launched an investigation. The team will be led by Senior Superintendent Park Chang-hwan (chief of the Serious Crimes Investigation Division), who will return from his dispatch to Special Counsel Cho Eun-suk's team.
Police said they received case records related to the Unification Church from Special Counsel Min Joong-ki's special counsel team at about 1:30 p.m. that day, and decided accordingly in consideration of issues such as the statute of limitations. An official at the Korean National Police Agency said, "The special dedicated investigation team plans to conduct a strict and swift investigation in accordance with the law and principles."
Special Counsel Min Joong-ki's team, while investigating allegations of "collusion between religion and politics" between the Unification Church and the People Power Party, obtained statements in Aug. that the Unification Church side had contacted Democratic Party of Korea figures on all fronts and delivered money and valuables to some. However, it did not open an investigation on the grounds that it was not covered by the special counsel law, and only after four months did it transfer the case to police.
The statute of limitations is expected to be key. The timing of the alleged provision of money and valuables to the Democratic Party of Korea, as stated and testified by Unification Church figures including former Unification Church World Headquarters chief Yoon Young-ho to the special counsel team and in court, was during the Moon Jae-in administration, from 2017 to 2021.
If money and valuables from the Unification Church side were received before the end of 2018, the seven-year statute of limitations for violations of the Political Funds Act has already passed or will soon expire. The investigation would be impossible or very tight.
If prosecutors apply the offense of accepting bribes instead of a violation of the Political Funds Act, the statute of limitations is longer. If the amount of the bribe is 100 million won or more, a 15-year statute of limitations applies; if it is between 30 million and 100 million won, a 10-year period applies. However, the offense of accepting bribes is established only when money and valuables are received as consideration related to official duties, leaving the proof of "quid pro quo" as another challenge.